BATON ROUGE, La. -- With signing day looming, LSU is looking to sway some heavily recruited defensive talent this weekend as three players holding multiple SEC offers are scheduled to visit.

ESPN 150 defensive end Tashawn Bower (Somerville, N.J./Immaculata), an Auburn commit who has been taking visits to other schools, highlights a trio of uncommitted defensive players coming to Baton Rouge.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- After originally planning to announce his commitment on signing day, Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) decided he couldn’t wait any longer. The nation’s No. 108 overall recruit and No. 9 safety knew he’d made up his mind, so after school on Wednesday, he announced publicly his decision to commit to UCLA.

It was an interesting recruiting road for the four-star safety, who was a lean to USC very early in the process and also considered Arizona State, LSU, Nebraska and Oklahoma. But Goodman had been linked to UCLA for months. He was impressed during his visit to the campus in November and had another opportunity to experience life at his future home, when he took an unofficial visit to UCLA this past weekend.

The 6-foot-2, 184-pound safety finished his senior season with 59 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and nine rushing touchdowns. He is the No. 11 overall player in California and the state’s No. 2 safety.

With Goodman in the fold, the Bruins =hold verbal commitments from six ESPN 300 prospects, including two in the ESPN 150.

Good friend and fellow four-star safety Priest Willis (Tempe, Ariz./Marcos De Niza) is expected to announce his decision at 7 p.m. MT on Wednesday. The two have long said they will be a package deal, so more good news could be on the way for the Bruins.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- With national signing day two weeks away, LSU is close to the finish line, but the Tigers still have some big names they are after:

Team needs: LSU was decimated on the defensive line by graduation and early NFL draft entrees.

The Tigers will be without six of the nine defensive linemen who played the majority of the snaps, including three potential first-round NFL draft picks, led by lightning-quick speed-rushing end Barkevious Mingo.

ESPN 150 CB Chris Hawkins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) has been a USC commit since April, but that hasn't stopped him from taking other visits and talking to other schools.

While there have been visits taken and rumors floating around for months, the No. 11 CB in the nation is still solid with the Trojans. Previous visits to Cal, Notre Dame and Washington did nothing to dissuade Hawkins from sticking with his dream school.

There have been many hypothetical questions surrounding the USC Trojans. What if senior center Khaled Holmes had been healthy for the Stanford game? What if Matt Barkley had spiked the ball in the last-minute drive at Arizona? What if USC made an adjustment or two against the vaunted Oregon offense?

In the end, there were too many questionable moments this season for a team that couldn't afford any. Now, with the Trojans preparing for the Sun Bowl, recruiting fans have found themselves asking another question.

It was a big weekend for UCLA on the field and on the recruiting trail.

The Bruins earned a big win over the USC Trojans on Saturday, and collected two verbal commitments over the weekend as well. The 2013 class added another terrific athlete in Darren Andrews (La Puente, Calif./Bishop Amat) who decommitted from Duke before giving his pledge to the UCLA staff. And the 2014 class saw its first member, with the commitment of wide receiver Jeff Farrar (Upland, Calif./Upland). Things could have hardly gone better for the Bruins, as they made a strong impression on many uncommitted ESPN 300 standouts, including safety Priest Willis (Tempe, Ariz./Marcos De Niza), safety Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga), cornerback Johnny Johnson (Fresno, Calif./Central) and defensive end Joe Mathis (Upland, Calif./Upland). Goodman and his mother met at length with the UCLA coaches on Sunday, and the Bruins will have a chance to close very strong with the defensive backfield in this class.

LOS ANGELES -- The USC Trojans lost their fourth game of the season on Saturday, and even though it came at the hands of crosstown rival UCLA, the general reaction among the Trojans' commits was all too familiar.

“It just makes me want to come in as fast as possible to help out,” four-star running back commit Justin Davis said Sunday.

It’s a sentiment shared by the members of a tight-knit recruiting class. Yes, USC is having an underwhelming campaign, but it appears that only drastic changes to the coaching staff between now and national signing day would have an effect.

While a mid-October visit to Notre Dame had an enormous impact on four-star athlete Max Redfield, ultimately leading to his decommitment from USC, it didn’t have nearly the same lasting effect on cornerback Chris Hawkins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga).

Hawkins admitted that, yes, the trip to South Bend, Ind., was nice, but a return to the Coliseum for the Colorado game made him feel right at home. The four-star cornerback prospect was one of a handful of USC commits to attend the Trojans’ 62-51 loss to Oregon on Saturday, and Hawkins once again got that special feeling.

LOS ANGELES -- The decision that had been brewing for weeks became official Sunday night when four-star athlete Max Redfield (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo) decommitted from USC.

Redfield broke the news on his Facebook page a day after attending the Trojans' 62-51 loss to Oregon at Memorial Coliseum but, really, had been wavering on his commitment since taking an official visit to Notre Dame on Oct. 12. With the No. 2-rated athlete re-opening his recruitment, USC's top-ranked class was dealt its first blow. Redfield is scheduled to visit Washington on Nov. 9 and has been in contact with Oregon and LSU with intent to set up trips. His official visit to USC is scheduled for Jan. 18, and the Trojans, though no longer the front-runners, are still a viable option.

With Redfield off the books, four-star safeties Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) and Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) appear to be the likely candidates to fill the void.

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On The Trail is ESPN RecruitingNation's home for all the latest news and information. With some of the nation's top recruiting writers contributing, OTT provides the latest details about commitments, visits and other notes to give fans the most comprehensive recruiting news source in the country.